The Alco C415, An Innovative But Failed Design

The one and only switcher model
of the Century series was the Alco C415, a bulky and boxy design that
seemed massive for a switcher (it also produced a hefty amount of
horsepower), much larger than EMD's sleeker SW line. The C415 was
produced in the mid-1960s but by this time the American Locomotive
Company's (Alco) credibility as a locomotive builder was dwindling and
the model found little success. Additionally, the idea behind the model
was somewhat perplexing; Alco attempted to market it as a combination
switcher/road switcher. However, railroads were losing interest in
switchers by the mid-1960s opting to save their money (and rightfully
so) to employ first generation diesels in secondary, branch, and yard
services. Due to the C415's poor sales it's amazing that any of these
locomotives survive today. However, six can still be found in the United States as well as one in Australia.

The
Alco C415, a center-cab design, began production in June, 1966 and
offered a staggering 1,500 horsepower for a switcher using Alco's 251F
prime mover (the builder's latest, and final, engine design). While Alco by this point typically sold its locomotives in a standard model,
as EMD had been doing for years, the C415 did come with a few options
such as differing cab heights for either clearance or increased
visibility and two various truck setups (AAR or Alco's Hi-Ad). Built
through the end of Alco's time as a locomotive builder the C415 seemed
to epitomize the company's troubles. Just 26 units of the model were sold with the Rock Island and Southern Pacific accounting for 20 of those orders (ten apiece).

For whatever reason, Alco decided that there was still a demand for a switcher model in the latter 1960s even though by that time both General Electric and the Electro-Motive Division were concentrating most of their resources to new road switcher models. Of course, Alco intended the locomotive to be a dual purpose unit used in yard and main line freight service. Unfortunately, despite its rugged horsepower rating, improved prime mover, and hefty tractive effort (60,000 pounds starting, 42,000 pounds continuous) railroads were simply no longer interested in such a model considering they had entire fleets of first generation units to perform the very same functions.

Remaining loyal to Alco through the end, the SP and Rock both found
multiple uses for their C415s and employed them in a wide range of
various tasks. Additionally, the Chehalis Western, Columbia &
Cowlitz, and Monongahela Connecting Railroad all picked up one apiece
with the Spokane, Portland & Seattle picking up two (Alco also built
one demonstrator, #415, which was eventually sold and shipped to
Australian firm Hamersley Iron; the unit remains operational today in that country). Alco removed the C415 from its catalog
by December, 1966 as the builder was simply having no success in
remaining competitive with either GE or EMD. For technical information relating to the C415 model please click here.

Total Production Roster Of Alco C415s

Owner

Road Number(s)

Quantity

Date Built

Alco (Demo)

415

1

1966

Chehlais Western Railroad

684

1

1968

Columbia & Cowlitz Railway

701

1

1968

Monongahela Connecting

701

1

1968

Rock Island

415-424

10

1966

Spokane, Portland & Seattle

100-101

2

1968

Southern Pacific

2400-2409

10

1966

By that date the company had fixed most of its reliability issues but simply could not earn
back the respect of much of the industry. Additionally, Alco wasn't
offering anything innovative or revolutionary, merely reacting to models
being introduced by EMD and GE. Today, at least six Alco C415s
remain in the United States; the
Monongahela Connecting's #701 is located at the Railroad Museum
of Pennsylvania while the Chehalis Western #684 is preserved at the
Fife History Museum in Fife, Washington. Additionally, three others operate on short line Burlington Junction, as noted in the above picture; #21 (SP #2409), #701 (Columbia & Cowlitz #701), and #702 (SP #2407). Finally, former Rock Island #424 (once operated as PLM Railcar Maintenance #421) sits derelict on a siding near BNSF Railway's Argentine Yard outside of Kansas City, Kansas. To read more about other Alco Century models please visit the Diesel Locomotives section of the site, which can be reached from the top of this page.

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